[ad_1]
By Abi Sewell DOHA, Qatar (AP) — The Palestinian militant group Hamas has lost confidence in the U.S. ability to broker a ceasefire in Gaza ahead of a new round of talks this week, a senior Hamas official said, amid growing pressure to end the 10-month war with Israel.
Osama Hamdan told The Associated Press in an interview on Tuesday that Hamas would only participate if the talks focused on implementing a proposal detailed by U.S. President Joe Biden in May and endorsed by the international community.
The United States said it was Israel’s proposal and Hamas agreed in principle, but Israel said Biden’s speech was not entirely consistent with the proposal itself, and both sides later proposed revisions, leading to each side accusing the other of obstructing an agreement.
Hamas has particularly resisted Israel’s demands that any ceasefire require it to maintain a long-term military presence in two strategic areas of Gaza, conditions that were only made public in recent weeks.
“We have informed the mediators … that any meeting should be based on discussing implementation mechanisms and setting deadlines, rather than negotiating new content,” said Hamdan, who is a member of Hamas’s political bureau, which includes the group’s top political leaders and sets its policies. “Otherwise, there is no reason for Hamas to participate.”
It was unclear late Wednesday whether Hamas would attend the talks, which begin on Thursday.
Hamdan’s speech comes amid efforts to end the war. On Oct. 7, Hamas-led militants attacked Israel, killing 1,200 people and dragging about 250 hostages into Gaza. Israel responded with a devastating bombing and ground invasion that has killed nearly 40,000 Palestinians and destroyed large swathes of territory.
There are now concerns that the conflict could spark a wider conflict.
In the hour-long interview, Hamdan accused Israel of not engaging in good faith and said the group did not believe the United States could or would pressure Israel to reach a deal.
Hamdan claimed that Israel “either sends a non-voting delegation (to the talks), or replaces the delegation so that we can restart the negotiations, or imposes new conditions.”
Israeli officials did not immediately comment on the claim, but Israel denies undermining the talks and accuses Hamas of doing so.
In the interview, Hamdan provided several copies of the ceasefire proposal and the group’s written response. A regional official familiar with the negotiations confirmed the documents were authentic. The official provided the assessment anonymously in order to share information that has not been made public.
The documents show that Hamas has repeatedly tried to add other guarantors, including Russia, Turkey and the United Nations, but Israel’s response has always been to include only the existing mediators, namely the United States, Egypt and Qatar.
The Israeli prime minister’s office said in a statement on Tuesday that some of the changes they requested were simply “clarifications,” adding details such as clauses on how Palestinians would return to northern Gaza, how many hostages would be released at certain stages and whether Israel could veto the release of which Palestinian prisoners in exchange for Israeli hostages. The Israeli prime minister’s office accused Hamas of demanding 29 changes to the proposal.
“The fact is that Hamas is preventing us from releasing the hostages and continues to oppose the platform,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said earlier this month.
However, Hamdan claimed that Hamas more than once accepted in whole or in part the proposals put forward to them by the mediators, but Israel flatly rejected or ignored it, or launched new major military operations in the following days.
In one case, Israel launched a new operation in Rafah in southern Gaza a day after Hamas accepted a ceasefire proposal that Israel said fell far short of its demands.
Hamdan said CIA Director William Burns told Hamas at the time through a mediator that Israel would agree to the deal.
But, he said, “the Americans were not able to convince the Israelis. I don’t think they put pressure on the Israelis.”
U.S. State Department spokesman Vedant Patel told reporters on Tuesday that Washington was making tremendous efforts to prevent an escalation of violence and end suffering in the region.
“We are working around the clock every day. Everyone in the region should understand that further attacks will only perpetuate conflict, instability and insecurity,” he said.
The negotiations have become more urgent as the war threatens to spark regional conflict.
Iran and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah are considering retaliatory strikes against Israel after the killing of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran and Hezbollah top commander Fuad Shukur in Beirut. Israel claimed the attacks but has neither confirmed nor denied its role in the blast that killed Haniyeh.
Several rounds of ceasefire talks have collapsed since a brief truce in November, during which more than 100 Israeli hostages were released. Currently, about 110 captives remain in Gaza, about a third of whom are believed to be dead.
Hamdan accused Israel of stepping up its attacks on Hamas leaders after Hamas agreed in principle to the latest proposals put forward by mediators.
Israel said an operation in Gaza on July 13 killed the shadowy leader of Hamas’ military wing, Mohammad Dave. Local health officials said more than 90 others died.
Hamdan insisted that Div was still alive.
Two weeks later, Haniyeh was killed, with Hamas and Iran blaming Israel. Hamas then appointed Gaza chief Yahya Sinwar, who was believed to be responsible for the October 7 attack, to replace Haniyeh, who is considered a more moderate figure.
Hamdan acknowledged that there were “some difficulties” and delays in communicating with Sinwar, who is believed to be hiding deep in the Gaza Strip’s network of tunnels, but insisted that this would not pose a major obstacle to the negotiations.
The most difficult issue in the negotiations remains whether and how the temporary ceasefire can be turned into a permanent one.
Israel has been cautious about proposing an extension of the initial ceasefire as long as the talks continue, appearing to fear Hamas would drag its feet on fruitless negotiations.
Hamas has said it fears Israel will restart the war once its most vulnerable hostages are returned, a scenario reflected in some of Netanyahu’s recent comments.
All versions of the ceasefire plan shared by Hamdan stipulate that Israeli troops will completely withdraw from Gaza in the second phase of the agreement.
Recently, however, officials briefed on the negotiations told The Associated Press that Israel has made new demands to maintain a troop presence in a strip of land along the Gaza-Egypt border known as the Philadelphia Corridor and along a highway that straddles southern and northern Gaza strips. Hamas has insisted on a full withdrawal of Israeli troops.
Hamdan said the group had not yet received the new conditions in writing.
Hamdan acknowledged that Palestinians have suffered greatly in the war and are eager for a ceasefire, but he insisted the group could not simply give up its demands.
“A ceasefire is one thing, surrender is another,” he said.
[ad_2]
Source link
